‘No counselling’ for girl found tied to a school toilet pipe
THE MOTHER of a Somerset West primary school pupil found bound behind her back to the toilet pipe with the belt of her uniform in the girls’ toilets last week, says her daughter has not received counselling after her ordeal.
The mother posted on Facebook how she, with the police and the school’s caretaker, found her daughter tied up to the toilet following a frantic search.
Yesterday the mother told the Cape Times she was disappointed about how the school had handled the matter, and felt there was a lack of support for her daughter and her family.
“We had a meeting last week with the school governing body (SGB) and the principal, and someone from Safe Schools who was there on another matter, spoke to her but my daughter hasn’t been given counselling,” she said.
Her concern now too was for all the children at the school, and called on them to relook their security measures.
According to the mother, her daughter said she went into the toilets where she waited for a long time for a cubicle.
When she eventually entered the cubicle, the girl says she was met by a person in black, who warned her to be quiet before tying up her hands.
The man apparently left after other learners left the toilets.
The mother said what upset her the most was the idea that everything was deemed to be fine because her daughter was found physically unharmed, but she was afraid to go to the toilet alone at home and at school.
SGB chairperson Logan September said a meeting was held between the board, parents and principal on Friday and they were looking at the school’s protocol about the incident.
September said a police investigation was under way and they awaited the investigating officer’s feedback, before providing the SGB and the child’s mother with a report. School principal Kobus van Schalkwyk would not comment on what was discussed at the meeting. Van Schalkwyk said the matter was reported to the police and the provincial education department.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond denied the mother’s claims and said the girl received counselling from the department and from the police.
“Safe Schools were also called in specifically to deal with this issue and were not there on ‘another related matter’. A Safe Schools representative, social worker and the circuit manager were there to address this matter as soon as the department was informed.
“The school followed the relevant protocol in this regard,” said Hammond, adding that the department was co-operating with the police.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said: “A case was registered in connection with the learner, of common assault and trespassing. The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation with no arrests as yet.”